Creating Experiences Course for Interdisciplinary & Flexible Thinkers

With teamwork and problem solving skills key to success in Creating Experiences, students engage in hands-on activities to master best practices early in the semester as a foundation for the course.

Mk Haley, Entrepreneur in Residence with the Department of Art and the College of Fine Arts, teaches Creating Experiences as part of the Imagineering collaboration. All courses are open to all majors and have no prerequisites.

Creating Experiences hosts an E-series section (IFS2063 Section 1) as well as a graduate level section (ART5928C Section 2). These courses will delve deeply into themed and immersive entertainment and other experiences, providing students an opportunity to see the creative possibilities through different forms of expression. Students will explore Experiential Design from large scale and highly themed experiences, such as a museum visit or theme park trips to everyday interactions. Facets of storytelling, teamwork, research, human behavior, presentation skills, peer-review, and out of class explorations will all be part of the curriculum.

Working together, students in the Interaction and Prototype Design class (ART4928C Section 8) will learn the basics of interaction and experience design, with the added layer of adhering to a partner’s specific needs and preferences. This class runs the gamut of real-world experience by encouraging collaboration, front end research, and a final product and presentation to a local partner. From brainstorming to physical prototyping and play testing, the end result of this effort will very specifically reflect the expertise and passions that the students bring to the class.

E-Series courses at Florida State University place an emphasis on creating a culture across all academic disciplines that embrace entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. The Creating Experiences classes interweave the best practices in innovation, leadership, and collaboration skills across the semester, as necessary for success in this unique field.

Potential Benefits Of Taking E-Series Courses:

The E-Series courses focus on broad questions that are relevant to humanity and our natural world and can be explored, examined, and experimented upon (thus the “E”). Courses are created for non-majors and are designed to foster critical thinking in allowing students to compare multiple perspectives on persistent issues. In the past, students that have participated in the E-Series courses have:

• Worked together to explore and pitch large scale spectacles
• Redefined the potential for some local landmarks
• Learned best practices for pitching original ideas
• Proposed the integration of emerging technology concepts into educational opportunities
• Learned best practices from museums to theme parks
• Welcomed subject matter experts to the class for specialized lectures
• Documented the interaction and experience design in the world around them, and more!

Meet Mk Haley:

Mk Haley

Faculty and staff for the E-Series courses are well qualified. With more than 20 years of service to Walt Disney Imagineering in both creative and technical roles, faculty member and Entrepreneur in Residence, Mk Haley, has had a history of experience in designing and leading the E-Series courses. With her service to non-profits and technology-based industry associations as well, the courses will have a broad spectrum and points of view to pull from during the course of the semester. Haley describes the need for the E-Series courses as follows:

We have quickly evolved from a goods and service based economy to one of an Experience based Economy, and while most often connected to Entertainment related enterprises, in reality, providing an engaging experience is about so much more. Any time a personal, memorable and engaging experience is created, especially as staged around any goods or services, it’s of special value to a consumer, partner, student, patient, etc. And creating these unique offerings is only possible through the collaboration of a wide variety of skillsets working together towards a single goal. Which is why this class welcomes, and needs, students from all majors. From fine art, design and communication skills, to marketing, business, engineering and educational expertise, the end product of rich collaboration across a diversity of disciplines is the foundation for solid and invaluable experience creation.

– Mk Haley, Entrepreneur in Residence, College of Fine Arts

Mk Haley has been with The Walt Disney Company since 1994 serving primarily with Walt Disney Imagineering in both technical and creative roles with the Virtual Reality teams, R&D, Special FX, Show Quality Services, and the Disney Research Labs. These teams allowed support of projects with a 10 year lead time, to critical in-park issues that needed immediate solutions. Mk has also served Disney Corporate initiatives related to New Technology programs and collaboration tools, as well as Disney Digital Media initiatives with their Television Groups. She has been an educator for 20 years teaching at both the high school and University level, including the Imagineering – UCLA partnership in Themed Entertainment Design, and recently served as both the Associate Executive Producer and Faculty at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. With more than 25 years of service to ACM SIGGRAPH, Mk more recently served as the SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair, and as the Themed Entertainment Association’s SATE Conference Technology Track Chair for 2013 & 2014.

More Information:

Students that take E-Series courses will become interdisciplinary thinkers, lifelong learners, and team builders. Courses enable students to meet all three competencies: (1) Communicate an analysis of existing questions from a variety of perspectives; (2) Envision new approaches to real-world problems; (3) Solve problems independently and in teams. This dynamic industry, coupled with the diversity of skill sets each student brings to the program, promises highly original and exciting potential for this upcoming Fall semester.

If you would like to know more about the application criteria and requirements for the E-Series courses, please view their website for further information.

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